Roman Reigns May Never Face Top WWE Superstar Again

Roman Reigns is set to face CM Punk at WrestleMania 42, but the plan used to be different.

The OTC was supposed to face The American Nightmare at The Show of Shows in a world title match. However, WWE cancelled it to ensure the same main event wasn’t repeated for a third time in four years.

In fact, WWE was planning a Hell in a Cell match for Reigns vs. Rhodes when the discussions had begun.

Roman Reigns will never face Cody Rhodes again

WWE has put Cody Rhodes and Roman Reigns on separate brands for a reason. Ibou of Self Made explained that a third match might never happen, and the global juggernaut has maintained the distance between the superstars. Furthermore, Roman Reigns doesn’t have a lot of conversations with anyone with WWE.

I tried to tell y’all. The Cody/Roman thing is weird. It’s a silent, unspoken…tension may be strong word, but there’s a distance kept there. Take note of how they avoid sharing brands for too long. Lot of comparing metrics that goes on too. Feels like Bird/Magic pre friendship. There are people in WWE convinced that the third match will never happen, no matter how close it gets from a planning standpoint.

I think the Roman/Cody thing is just what inevitably happens when you have two tippy top guys in what was until recently a very hot promotion. You get competitive distance and both guys believe they’re the reason for business being strong. Re: Punk/Roman, I’d imagine they’re as fine as you could possibly be with Reigns at this stage of the game. He doesn’t really talk to these dudes outside of work, he doesn’t even talk much with Hunter apparently.

I think the Roman/Cody thing is just what inevitably happens when you have two tippy top guys in what was until recently a very hot promotion. You get competitive distance and both guy believes they’re the reason for business being strong.

Re: Punk/Roman, I’d imagine they’re as…

— Ibou, of Self Made (@BackupHangman) March 13, 2026

Cody Rhodes had previously revealed that he shares a strange relationship with Roman Reigns.

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